By Sarah De Crescenzo - SDBJ StaffSuzie’s Farm, an organic farm in San Diego’s Tijuana River Valley, is closing after eight years in business.Co-founder Lucila De Alejandro announced the shuttering Monday in a Facebook video, citing financial difficulties.

The farm has become popular among local families thanks to its community events, such as Strawberry Jam in the spring and Pumpkin Palooza in the fall; its community-supported agriculture (CSA) program; and its presence at many San Diego area farmers markets.In the video, De Alejandro said while the business had grown in popularity since it opened in 2009, its profits had not.

Issue Date: May 17, 2017By Christine Souza​ Just weeks away from the deadline, counties, irrigation districts, farmers and other entities are finalizing agreements to form locally controlled groundwater sustainability agencies in affected basins across the state.As required under the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the groundwater sustainability agencies—or GSAs—will guide groundwater management in basins and sub-basins classified by the state as medium or high priority. Under SGMA, local agencies must work together and with groundwater users to develop local groundwater sustainability plans that will guide decisions affecting groundwater use and fees.GSA notifications from local agencies must be submitted to the California Department of Water Resources by June 30.Jack Rice, an associate counsel for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said the two-and-a-half-year process of forming the local agencies proved very challenging."In forming the GSAs, local communities are establishing the entity that will be writing the future of groundwater pumping in that basin. This is an extremely important part of the process, and county Farm Bureaus in many areas have done an amazing job representing agriculture to ensure the voice of agriculture is part of the GSA," Rice said.He noted that once the local agencies form, they will begin writing groundwater sustainability plans, which he said will require "even greater involvement" by farmers and ranchers."Farmers and ranchers must focus on showing up and staying unified," Rice said. "If agriculture isn't engaged or becomes fractured, we jeopardize our own future."As DWR receives notifications of GSA formation, it will review them for the required information and to assure there is no overlap of basin boundaries. The agency hopes to have applications processed in July.DWR senior engineering geologist Mark Nordberg, who is the SGMA project manager, said the agency has conducted a roll call of counties to ensure the deadline will be met."The way GSA notifications have been filed is it's been across the board, whether it is a small, local agency; a joint powers authority; a group of agencies that have coordinated through an MOU (memorandum of understanding); or a county that has claimed all of the portions within the boundaries of the county," Nordberg said.About 197 local agencies have coordinated and have formed GSAs in 119 different basins, according to DWR. The sub-basins must be managed by a GSA, or else the State Water Resources Control Board will step in, oversee those areas and impose fees. The board is expected to approve a schedule of fees at its meeting this week.For many, maintaining local control has been an effective motivator.Elizabeth Nielsen, Siskiyou County natural resources policy specialist, who handles SGMA for the county, said local farmers and ranchers were concerned about how the law would impact groundwater rights, but said she was very aware that "having local control was crucial.""Our water users understand that it is really important to handle this locally," Nielsen said, noting that Siskiyou County contains four medium-priority basins that will be overseen by two GSAs.Areas not covered by a GSA are considered unmanaged, DWR's Nordberg said, "but there are very few of those areas, because most every county has agreed to manage areas not within a district." In areas that could have contentious issues, DWR provided professional mediators.Tulare County Farm Bureau Executive Director Tricia Stever Blattler said after participating in months of meetings with a professional facilitator, 10 GSAs are being formed within the county's boundaries, with the county participating as necessary to fill in any unmanaged areas."People disagreed, didn't like what was happening and didn't think SGMA should be happening," Blattler said. "It wasn't an easy two years, but people have come out the other side of it being pretty responsible with one another and trying to make sure it is an open and transparent process."Kern County contains several groundwater basins, the largest of which, the Kern sub-basin of the Tulare Lake basin, covers the San Joaquin Valley portion of the county. Kern County Farm Bureau Executive Director Beatris Espericueta Sanders said that makes the sub-basin home to nearly 1 million acres of irrigated agriculture and numerous metropolitan centers, including Bakersfield. Sanders estimated there will be 10 GSAs in Kern County, although there are a few smaller areas that are considering filing."The biggest stumbling block was addressing and accommodating the diversity of interests," she said. "SGMA requires extensive coordination, and this has been and will continue to be the biggest challenge of the process."Breanne Ramos, Merced County Farm Bureau executive director, said local agencies have formed about 17 GSAs covering four sub-basins in Merced County."I think the biggest challenge that we are going to see is coming together to do the groundwater sustainability plans," Ramos said.DWR is promoting the SGMA process to be adaptive over time, Nordberg said, including how a GSA is governed."If some local agency simply decides, 'We want out,' they can opt out. And I know there are efforts by landowners statewide to form new water districts," Nordberg said. "Once those new districts are formed, then they have the status of being a local agency and can become a GSA."GSAs will guide plans for groundwater basins identified as "critically overdrafted," which must be in place by 2020; all others must be in effect by 2022.For more information, see the DWR online SGMA portal at sgma.water.ca.gov/portal/.(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.

Submitted by Zea Sonnabend for CCOF, may 15, 2017

Be Prepared for Invasive Pests

Spring is the time to anticipate pest problems that may emerge with the warmer weather of summer. It is a good time to remember what to look out for and to take some preventative steps to keep ahead of the pests. After the very wet winter in California, we might be about to experience an abundance of some of these pests, as well as invasive plants.

Because in California we grow so many crops over such a long season, there are always pests of concern. Some pests are already under quarantine in certain regions, while other species are not quarantined but are worth preparing for. This blog post will cover a few of the potentially most threatening pests this spring so you can start making a plan to prevent or look out for damage caused by them.

Quarantined Pests Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) and Huanglongbing (HLB): ACP and the associated disease HLB have been frequent topics in the agricultural community because they pose such a severe threat to California citrus. While the ACP is spreading into northern California rapidly and is in some commercial groves, the HLB disease is still only in isolated areas of urban southern California. Vigilance is important and most commercial regions now have biological control programs available as well as region-wide control strategies. Fruit Flies (FF): Various species include Mediterranean FF, Cherry FF, and Oriental FF. The Malaysian fruit fly is the most recent (2016), and has an active quarantine in the Los Angeles area. European Grapevine Moth: There is still a quarantine program in place although no insects have been detected in traps since 2014. This is a major pest of a major crop, so extensive trapping is still ongoing in affected counties. Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM): While the active quarantine and mandatory spraying have quieted down, this pest is still active in many regions and controls are necessary. Mexico and Canada may still have some trade restrictions on certain crops regarding this pest. Olive Fruit Fly: This pest has spread throughout most of the olive-producing regions of the state and there are no effective controls. Consequently, the olive fruit fly has limited the production of olives for table use in most areas, but olives for oil can still be grown successfully.

Non-Quarantined Pests Bagrada Bug: In 2015, this invasive stinkbug caused millions of dollars in crop losses of organic mustard-family crops. Since then, infestations haven’t been as destructive. An international team of biologists is working to develop biological control via a natural enemy of bagrada bug. Active in hot weather late in the season, early planning for cropping strategies—such as transplanting rather than direct seeding of mustard family crops—might help avert it. Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD): A fruit fly related to vinegar fly, this pest can have many generations a year and is particularly important for berries and cherries. It attacks ripening as well as overripe fruit, and in other areas of the country is very difficult to control. Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB): A serious pest that can travel long distances and cause severe damage to a variety of hosts and infest buildings. It is established in the southern half of California and making its way north. Organic Considerations The basics of all organic pest control come into play here. These basics are: sanitation, traps and monitoring, biological controls, and organically-approved sprays. Here are a few tips on using these techniques to manage the invasive pests listed above.Sanitation: It is extremely important to pick up and destroy fallen and overripe fruit so there is nowhere for the pest to lay eggs or pupate. This is the number one control for FF (including Olive FF and SWD), and it is also important for the control of many diseases. Giving pickers a separate receptacle for fruit that should not be marketed—but should be removed from the field—is a worthwhile strategy to help keep fields clean so that pests cannot spread. Traps and Monitoring: Some of these pests can be mass trapped, while some of them should have a monitored trapping program to determine when the threshold is reached for a spray control method. Each species listed in this post has a specialized trap that works best, although some, such as LBAM, can have a combined trap that attracts other harmful tortricid moths. The University of California IPM Program Exotic & Invasive Pests page has much more detail about traps in the Management section for each pest. Biological Controls: Research is ongoing on suitable biological controls for many of the invasives affecting agricultural crops. A few wasps have been identified that control ACP, and some of them will be commercially available to growers for the first time this year. For other pests like Olive FF, the parasites from its origination point in Africa do not give acceptable control for use in commercial plantings in the United States. The Center for Invasive Species Research at University of California Riverside issues frequent updates on research into new biological control organisms. Organic Sprays: There are some pests that are very difficult to control organically, but with constant experimentation and attention to the details, most pests can be managed successfully enough to produce a crop. Some of the pests can particularly benefit from barrier film sprays such as kaolin clay to keep pests from penetrating fruit, while others need a precisely timed application of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), spinosad, or neem to achieve control. For area-wide pest control efforts, there are usually recommendations of what products to use and when. Staying ahead of the threat is key to producing a successful crop. We urge you to consult the resources linked to this blog to find out more about invasive species, quarantines, integrated management strategies, and the latest research.